DIY Thanksgiving: Fruit Topiary

Here’s a charming fruit topiary for your Thanksgiving table. By combining various types of fruit in shades of one color, you’ll have an elegant and striking centerpiece. (The other nice thing about this project? It’s simpler than you might think to re-create it.)

Materials:

• Foam ball with 4-5” diameter, size could vary depending on the size of your planter (You can find these in a local craft store like Michael’s.) 
• Leftover foam to use as filler, or you could also take old newspapers and crumple them into balls 
• Round planter (Though actually, you could use a square or rectangular one too. Whatever you have around the house.) 
• Plaster 
• Plastic cup 
• Two branches (be sure to choose some that are a little thicker so they can hold the weight of the fruit) 
• Shears 
• Barbecue sticks 
• Various fruit: We used two different types of grapes, plums and cranberries 
• Thin wire

Instructions:

1. The first step is to prep the branches to act as the base of your topiary. We mixed up the plaster (follow instructions on the bag), poured it into the plastic cup and placed the two branches in the center of the cup. Let plaster dry. Once dry, stick foam ball at the top end of the sticks. Place the plastic cup in the center of your planter. Then, take your leftover foam or newspaper balls and fill in the empty spaces around the cup to secure it. If you want to be extra sure the cup will stay in place, you can hot glue the cup into the planter.

2. Take your various pieces of fruit and stick them onto the ends of the barbecue sticks. (See the materials image for an example.) Reserve cranberries (or whatever fruit you’d like) to cover the top of your planter. To secure the grape bunches on to the barbecue sticks, wrap the thin wire around the grape vine and barbecue stick.

3. Once you have all your fruit prepped, start to place them in to your foam ball. Feel free to get creative. If you want to be more methodical, start with one type of fruit (for example: all the plums) and place them randomly around the foam ball. Then, move on to the grapes and the rest of the fruit. There’s really no “wrong” way to do this. As long as you cover all the foam, your topiary will be a success. Once you’ve covered the ball, don’t forget to place the cranberries (or whatever fruit you’d like to use) on the top of the planter to cover the plastic cup and filler.

4. Place on your Thanksgiving table and enjoy.

Don’t forget to share pictures of your creations. Email them to my editor: Karell@prestonbailey.com, or post on your blog and leave the link in the comments.